Which movie best represents your hometown?

One of Budget Travel's top tips for taking sharper vacation photos is to shoot during the "golden hour," around sunrise and sunset—when the wash of light that bathes scenery in a soft glow. But when you travel to a new location, you may not know the times for dawn and dusk. One tool to look up peak photography times is Golden Hour. This free app launched in October and is available via iTunes. If you prefer, you can find the same information on any laptop or mobile device with a Web connection at golden-hour.com. In addition to the golden hour, you may want to know when the "blue hour" is so-called because the sun hasn't yet come up but the sky is lightening up to a pleasant shade of blue, and already spectacular landscapes appear even more so. In this case, you'll want to fire up the free Twilight Calculator. And if you're choosing in advance from a couple of different vantage points for shooting, you may prefer SunCalc, a new site that overlays information about the Golden Hour with a view of the sun's trajectory, so that you can see what direction as well as what hour you should shoot from. TIP: You should also invest in a heavy, sturdy tripod for the low-light conditions. Feel free to share your own tips about travel photography in the comments. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL My Take: A half-dozen reader photos we've showcased in Budget Travel magazine 25 travel-inspiring photos from readers Readers' best sign photos

From the Italian town of Vernazza (above) to the beaches of California, here are 28 picturesque reasons to plan your next trip to the coast. See the slide show. RECENT READER SLIDE SHOWS Signs | Reflections | Skylines NOW IN SEARCH OF... We're collecting your photos of cherry blossoms. Upload them through myBudgetTravel, tag them, and check back in the coming weeks for a slide show of the best submissions.

It's time to get your hands dirty: In an upcoming Trip Coach column, we're digging into farmstay vacations. As always, we want to hear from you first so we can put together a story that'll address all of your questions and concerns. If you've ever had questions big or small regarding farmstays, farm visits, or agritourism operations of any kind, now's the time to ask. You might be wondering: What are the best resources for finding and evaluating farmstays? Do guests really have to do chores? What kind? How "hands-on" are the activities? What happens if I don't want to milk a cow? What kind of lodging can guests expect? Are certain farms better than others for families? Or couples? Or solo travelers? Are certain parts of the world more likely to have farms that welcome travelers? How much do farmstays cost? Is it cheaper if guests work in the fields or tend to the animals? Now's your turn. Fire away with any questions you have about farmstays, and we'll do our best to answer your most pressing concerns in an upcoming issue of Budget Travel. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: A Farmstay in St. Croix The Farm Stay: Perfect for Families with Young Kids Farm Tours Where You Can Pitch In

Why party like a rock star when you can hang with the rock stars instead? The latest trend in travel—musician and celebrity-led trips—is hitting Mardi Gras this year, as alt-rockers Better Than Ezra announce a personally-guided weekend tour of their home state's annual festival. The band, famous for 90's hits such as "Good" and "Desperately Wanting," will host a 3-day event, dubbed the Krewe of Rocckus, during the last weekend of Carnival, from Thursday, March 3rd to Saturday March 5th. (Mardi Gras officially kicks off Friday, February 25th and runs through Fat Tuesday, on March 8th.) Lead singer Kevin Griffin told us by phone this week that he got the idea after seeing the success of musicians John Mayer's and Kid Rock's cruises last year. Kid Rock's 2010 trip was such a hit, in fact, that the sponsor company, Sixthman, is already planning a 2011 sailing. "We're neophytes in the travel industry," Griffin said, "but New Orleans is our town, and what better way for visitors to experience it than with insiders like us? I want to take people to the neighborhoods I love, the restaurants where I eat, and the music venues I like best." In many ways, the Krewe of Rocckus package is like a fast-pass to the rock star treatment. Tickets grant guests the kind of exclusive access that would be next to impossible for most to come by on their own, like admission to private balconies on Bourbon Street and stands on historic St. Charles Avenue to watch the parades. Also included are tickets to two nights of concerts by Better Than Ezra and other Louisiana musicians at the House of Blues. Griffin said his "love affair" with New Orleans began when he lived there after college, right around when he founded Better Than Ezra with fellow Louisiana native Tom Drummond. "The architecture, the music, the literature, the food—there's just something inherently inspiring about New Orleans," he said. After Katrina, Griffin and the other members of Better Than Ezra established a non-profit called The BTE Foundation and raised more than $2 million to help rebuild the city and restore the coastline. "Rebuilding post-Katrina is still ongoing, but New Orleans is in a much better place today than it was before," Griffin said. "So now I want to get people down here to show them what the city's all about. Mardi Gras is not just some college party weekend—it's a beautiful cultural event, with incredible music and food and pageantry. We're going to be bending over backwards to make sure people have a good time and see that side of it." If this year's Krewe of Rocckus is a success, Griffin said he hopes to make the trip an annual tradition. Krewe of Rocckus packages start at $695 per person, including meals, open bars, all tickets, and three nights' stay at the Hilton Riverside Hotel. Airfare not included. Booking details can be found here. Vote for America's Coolest Small Towns 2011 Mardi Gras: Still America's Best Party Photos: Mardi Gras floats on 25 Reasons We Love New Orleans